A preliminary outline of the course can
be found at the SCHEDULE website. Some of
this material is subject to change and this site will be constantly up-dated so
please check it before each class.

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Syllabus

Required materials:

The textbook for the course is Universe 9th Edition by Roger A. Freedman, Robert M. Geller
and William J. Kaufmann III.

You will also need a scientific calculator capable
of computing exponential functions.

Course Objectives:

One of the goals of
this class is to reveal to you some of the wonders of our cosmos. Astronomy 129
will cover the planets, their moons and our sun. You will learn how the
scientific method is used to explain the underlying causes behind astrophysical
phenomena. What lies beyond our solar system will be covered in Astronomy 130. I
recommend that you review the material before it is presented in class. This
will help you to better understand the concepts and enjoy the class.

I
expect your active participation in the class. My lectures will be followed by
an activity, which may include the use of astronomy software to demonstrate
some of the concepts described during the lecture.

A
description of the learning outcomes and objectives of this course are included
in Learning_Outcomes.

Astro-News:

Each
class will contain a segment called Astro-News. Every student will be expected
to give a 5-minute presentation during Astro-News (only one presentation per
student over the entire course). The presentation may be in PowerPoint,
keynote, overhead or blackboard.Astro-News will cover events that have been recently presented in a
recognized astronomy media source.

There
will be 3 midterm exams over the semester. The worst score of the three may be
dropped. Homework will be assigned after each chapter and I expect it to be turned
in by the assigned due date listed on the schedule web site. Several quizzes
will be given during lectures. The quizzes will be based on material already
presented in lectures. There will be a final exam that will cover most of the
material presented in the lectures.

Grades

Your
final grade will be calculated as follows:

Homework

10%

Quizzes

15%

Astro-News
and Participation

15%

Midterms

40%

Final

20%

Your
number grade will be converted into a letter grade as follows.

>85%

A

80-84%

A-

76-80%

B+

72-76%

B

68-72%

B-

64-68%

C+

60-64%

C

56-60%

C-

52-56%

D+

48-52%

D

44-48%

D-

<44%

F

Special Needs

If you have any special needs or disabilities that
might require special arrangements to be made for any aspect of this course,
please let me know at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you become
aware of them.

Violations of the College of Charleston
Honor Code (including cheating or attempted cheating) will be referred to the
Office of Student Affairs for adjudication. Examples of cheating include
copying test or quiz answers, using cellular technology to communicate
information during a test or quiz, copying homework answers verbatim from an
external source.